THE TOOLAKEA SCANDAL ALSO INVOLVING THE MAYOR DEEPENS
THE TOOLAKEA SCANDAL ALSO INVOLVING THE MAYOR DEEPENS: WHY DOES MICHAEL KEIR CLAIM THERE WAS NO “CONFLICT OF INTEREST” WHEN IT IS THERE IN BLACK AND WHITE? IS HE BLIND?
Last week we shared Gavin Jepson’s email to the Principal of then Keir Steele firm who represented him as he was unfairly blamed for the asbestos contamination scandal at Toolakea directly linked to the billion dollar Chinese project at Toolakea. Gavin simply and reasonably asked for his money back because of the serious conflict of interest that has come to light (which raises questions about the representation of his case). This is also the secret deal that was mentioned in dodgy Warwick Powell’s email to Jenny Hill on May 18 2015 on behalf of yet another suspicious Rimbanun Hijau shell company Landmark Projects.
Well in reply Michael Keir tried to claim there was no conflict of interest. But as Gavin pointed out in his reply to Michael Keir below, it is there in black and white on page 13 of the Rimbanun Hijau Initial Advice Statement to the Qld Coordinator General’s Office. This is their dodgy application to get state coordinated project status to avoid social, economic and environmental scrutiny of another secretive Chinese takeover of important North Queensland areas and industries at local expense (including locking out locals from the Northern beaches). On page 13 of this document [check it out for yourself at https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/…/north-qld-country…] it says that “Keir Steele Lawyers [and] Principal/Director Moya Steele [are] retained… to provide legal and development advisory services necessary for a project of this scale, including assistance with formal consultation, community engagement, corporate partnerships and operational and body corporate requirements”.
We think that what this really means is that Moya Steele was long ago recruited as much for conflict of interests as a Director of Townsville Enterprise Limited as well as a Principal of Keir Steele Lawyers in order to help push through and get approval for a dodgy secret deal with Mayor Hill that really sells out the interests of the local Townsville community as well as North Queensland more widely?. Has Michael Keir ever checked up with Moya Steele about this or is he just turning a blind eye at Gavin Jepson’s expense?
As Gavin suggests, the least they could do in relation to a damning conflict of interest role in Gavin being falsely blamed (and unfairly imposed with a multimillion dollar remediation order for the Chinese reckless actions that they don’t want to take responsibility for) is to give him his money back!
Hi Michael, You claim that your firm has not had any conflicts of interest whilst also representing my case. But that is clearly not true. So, it seems that you either don't know what a conflict of interest is or you perhaps you are just refusing to recognise this which is a kind of cover up? If you go to page 13 Of the Landmark/Rimbanun Hijau’s Toolakea project submission to the Qld government, you will see not just mention of Moya Steele as their Development Officer (etc) but also Keir Steele as a key representative of the Project at Toolakea – not just the site of where Landmark reps organised illegal demolitions but also caused the asbestos contamination they have unfairly and dishonestly blamed on me. I now know that Keir Steele failed to also tell me (whilst also supposed to be representing me) how they were they were also secretly representing Landmark Projects at the same time, representing the very group who were making false allegations against me and trying to cover up and refuse to pay for all the damage they caused.
In representing this Chinese group in their secret deals, I know also that your colleague and partner Moya Steele was also guilty of a number of additional conflict of interests, including in her role with Townsville Enterprise Limited as a co-director alongside the Mayor and others. I have also heard that Moya Steele has been working closely together with Landmarks Rep Warwick Powell for some years now including whilst your firm were representing them as they falsely blamed me for their illegal and destructive activities. And I have seen Moya Steele’s name in a Keir Steele memo directed at me at the beginning of last year in relation to the remediation of the Toolakea site. From memory it she clearly showed that she knew all about how the firm was representing me to get an unfair remediation order against me that will bankrupt me – and that she wanted me pushed unreasonably to address the asbestos problem so her foreign group could progress their project. So how is that not a conflict of interest, Michael?
Also, you asked about some minor editing changes I made to my letter after I got your response. I realised that both of us were not quite right and had to correct that after I had checked with my bookkeeper. She told me that you did not just charge me around $30,000 but the figure was actually more than $37,000. She also explained how I had mixed up this figure up with another $40,000 that Landmark ripped me off on fixing fences, building dams, and other work done but not reimbursed. So, when I shared the email with TRRA after your disappointing reply, I told them that it was almost $40,000 which I know to be the correct figure. Is there some other particular point that is wrong or you want corrected for some reason? Let me know and I will pass this on.
Sincerely, Gavin
The Go Fund Me site set up by some of Gavin’s friends and supporters to assist in his battle